Books & Nachos

United States

Episodes

Before it became one of the most beloved movies of all time, The Godfather was a blockbuster novel with characters and plot points that never made it to the screen. Join long lost podcaster Stuart as he comes home to his Books & Nachos family and parses out all the changes made to Mario Puzo’s classic.

Ben's three-year-old brother Eric disappeared five years ago, but Ben continues to search. When Ben takes a job at the store where Eric vanished things are not all that they seem. Join Brock for his spoiler-free review of Bad Man to see if this is the perfect thriller to cap off your summer reading list!

SPOILER ALERT: This podcast contains detailed information about the 2017 Showtime Twin Peaks series as well as all previous Twin Peaks books, movies, and episodes. This year's Twin Peaks: The Return revival polarized audiences and seemed to ask as many questions as it answered. With that series complete, series writer Mark Frost is free to discuss it all in Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier -- the intended final book based on Twin Peaks. Join Stuart and Arnie now to find out if Peaks goes out on...

Continuing his look at nonfiction Hellraiser books, Arnie is back with a review of The Hellraiser Chronicles--a 1992 behind-the-scenes look at the first three Hellraiser films. But seeking even more pleasures Arnie continues on to look at Damnation Games which also gets under the skin of those first three films. Are either or both of these worth a read? Join Arnie to find out!

Clive Barker's Hellraiser and it's immediate follow-up Hellbound: Hellraiser II were low-budget productions, shot in the UK. Despite their small beginnings their impact was global, skyrocketing Clive Barker to fame and fortune and terrifying a generation. How did that happen? The book Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II details the making of these first two Hellraiser films. What insights does it provide, and is it worth a read? Join Arnie on this review to find...

In 1987 Clive Barker took the world by storm with his film Hellraiser, but his first draft of that movie wasn't in screenplay form--it was a short story. Written with the express intent of being a low-budget movie, Barker explores the concepts of love, deceit, murder, and damnation. It became his defining work, but how good is it? And how does the prose differ from the film? Open the box, unchain this podcast, join Arnie in Hell, and find out!

Gunslinger Roland Deschain had a long quest in his search for The Dark Tower. So too did filmmakers toil long to transform Stephen King's eight-novel series to the big screen. This journey is chronicled in pictures and prose in the book The Dark Tower: The Art of the Film. Join Arnie on this episode of Books & Nachos as he reviews this work. Then he is joined by Daniel Wallace, author of The Art of the Film, to discuss the process of producing this type of book!

Before the new season of Twin Peaks started on Showtime, series co-creator Mark Frost wrote a book to tide over anxious fans. That book was The Secret History of Twin Peaks. An in-universe history of this fictional town finds its citizens have ties to Lewis & Clarke, the Masons, the Illuminati, and events at Rosewell and Area 51. Wait...isn't this a book about Twin Peaks? Maybe. Arnie and Stuart are here with a review to try and make sense of it all! Listen to this book review, then hear...

As Inland Empire hit theaters Lynch was also prepping a big release...for the bookstores. Catching the Big Fish is Lynch's combination of autobiography and advertisement for his Transcendental Medication. Join Arnie and Stuart to find out what insights Lynch's writing may provide into the man, his works, and his meditations. Listen to this book review, then hear reviews of EVERY Twin Peaks episode at NowPeakingPodcast.com

By the time Welcome to Twin Peaks was released ABC was already telling that town "Goodbye." The series' cancellation had been announced but the tie-in merchandising continued with this pamphlet that is a guidebook to the sights, places, flora, and fauna of Twin Peaks. What does this book add to the mythology of the series? And does its fictitious maps and places match up with any of the real filming locations? Join Arnie and Stuart for this review for those answers! Listen to this book...

Twin Peaks' cancellation was all but certain in May, 1991. Yet that is also when series writer Scott Frost's Agent Cooper book My Life, My Tapes was released. Unlike The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, Cooper's backstory was mostly unready by a waning fan base. Now the book commands top dollar on the secondary market. Is it worth the price? Listen to this book review, then hear reviews of EVERY Twin Peaks episode at NowPeakingPodcast.com

As Twin Peaks' second season began the merchandise machine was gaining speed. First came Jennifer Lynch's Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. Hot on its heels came "Diane..." - The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper. Combining TV-show audio with newly recorded bits this audiobook catches you up on the mystery, but are there new clues revealed in the tapes not seen on TV? Listen to this book review, then hear reviews of EVERY Twin Peaks episode at NowPeakingPodcast.com

In the summer of 1990 everybody was discussing Twin Peaks - the television phenomenon that kept people in suspense during their season break. Tidbits were teased to fans, including that in Season 2 the secret diary of Laura Palmer would be found. What secrets would it hold? Would it reveal her killer? Viewers would find out, but fans didn't have to wait! Before Season 2 started The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer was released in full to bookstores! Not only officially sanctioned, it was written...

No, Stuart was not eaten by a sand worm, he's back to discuss Children of Dune -- Frank Herbert's third novel in the Duneverse. Focusing on the children of Paul, this book has incest, political intrigue, and a twist ending. Join Stuart for his thoughts on this novel!

Everybody wants to rule the galaxy...but is it all it's cracked up to be? Now Emperor, Paul Atreides must balance his leadership with numerous plots to undermine him. After the great success of Dune, can Frank Herbert match with the sequel: Dune Messiah? Join Stuart in this review to find out!

Frank Herbert's 1965 landmark novel DUNE is one of the most celebrated works of the science fiction genre, but does today's reader have to be a Mentat in order to wrap their mind around its dense mythology? Host Stuart In LA promises, "there's nothing to fear.... fear is the mind killer." Join him as he dives headfirst into this first chapter of his six podcast exploration of the Duneverse.

In 1990 Robert Ludlum returned to Jason Bourne one last time for The Bourne Ultimatum. This story finds Bourne once again in the crosshairs of Carlos the Jackal. It was a book intended to set a legacy for many Bourne novels to follow in the hands of other writers. So why is this the worst book ever reviewed at Books & Nachos? Join Stuart in L.A. as he tears into The Bourne Ultimatum and tells you why this is a novel you should avoid at all costs! And if you enjoy Books & Nachos, support the...

Bourne is back! Robert Ludlum had never written a sequel to any of his novels before. That streak ended in 1986 when Jason Bourne (or really David Webb) has to travel to China in search of the men who kidnapped his woman. This novel bears virtually no resemblance to the Matt Damon film, but is it worth a read? Join Stuart in LA in this review to find out! And if you enjoy Books & Nachos, support the show through our PodBean Crowdfunding Page!

This summer is a great time to be re-Bourne! Matt Damon is returning to play Jason Bourne for the fourth time. For many Bourne fans, however, it may be surprising to find out how different these Damon films are from Robert Ludlum's original novels. On this episode of Books & Nachos, join Stuart in L.A. as he gives a spoiler free review of this book, outlining the creator's original vision for this spy who can't remember his past. And if you enjoy Books & Nachos, support the show through our...

20 years have passed between the 1996 sci-fi hit Independence Day and this summer's new Independence Day: Resurgence. That time passed in our real world--but it also went by for the fictional characters who survived that alien assault. Fans have long wondered--what happened on July 5, 1996? Were all the aliens killed when the ships went down? Some of this will be revealed in the new movie, but those wanting a fuller explanation can find it in the new novel Independence Day: Crucible by Greg...